Article feeding device



Nov. 18, 1958 s. J. KOCAN ET AL 2,860,761

ARTICLE FEEDING DEVICE Filed Aug.v l5, 195'? 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTORS.

Nov. 18, 1958 s. J. KocAN ETAL ARTICLE FEEDING DEVICE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2` Filed Aug. 15, 1957 INVENTORJ" STEP/#W fram/v .d

WIr/l United States Patent@ ARTICLE `FEEDING DEVICE Application August 15, 1957, Serial No. 678,340:

4 Claims.A (Cl. 198-26) The present invent-ion relates to apparatus for manufacturing photoash lamps andV more particularly topa device for feedingthe photoflashLlamp envelopes to` an automatic machine for coating the envelopes with a protect-ive' coating.`

Photoflash lamps'ofv the type comprising an envelope of vitreousmaterial and containing a chargeof readily combustible light-giving material and combustion-sup,-A porting means, which on ignition, burns with great rapidit-y to produce a momentary flash of `actinic light, are customarilyprovided with an interior, light-transmitting, protective coating of a suitable material, such as a lacquer, irl-orderto strengthen the envelope and preventcracking` thereof, uponchargexashing, by hotburning particles `of the combustible material.

The envelopes are internallycoated with lacquer onan automatic machine' similar to the-type shown in U. S. Patent No:\1,900,104, issued'March' 7, 1933, to A. M. Hagamen et --all which4 machinecomprises a plurality of heads of the suctionv type, peripherally disposed on a turret which isfindexable` from one work station to an. other. suction created by` a vacuumyline extending into each head and are rotated about their longitudinal axis, to ins'ui'eunifornrcoatingof the-interior of the envelopes by air1`brush`es or spray guns of the type` shown in the. above `mentioned lpatent.

Heretofore," the envelopes have been manually loaded intonthe revolving head with' attendant high labor cost and low production rate and occasional resultantinjury tothe operator when shefails to release the envelope beforelthe latter begins to rotate with the chuck. Mechanical feeding devices of the'type shown in U. S. Patent NGL-2,427,712, issued September 23, 1947, to A. F. Casler et-`al. for transferring the-envelope from a rigidgravitytype chute to the revolving head by sucking the envelope across the gap between the head and the chute, cause the envelopes to bounce away from the revolving head, and hence out ofthe heads.` In addition, the sliding-friction between the chutes andthe envelopes occasionally prevents delivery of aneenvelope-to the revolving head.

Itis` the generalobject of thepresent invention to avoid andovercorne'the foregoingl and other difficulties ofand objections to priorartpractices by theprovision of fan-automatic device for Afeeding articles to a revolving head of the suction type, which device provides the article with-'a path of movement sealed at the delivery end and under the influence of the vacuum within the head thereby insuring positive high-speed transfer of the article from the delivery chute to the'revolving head.`

Another object of thepresent invention is the provision of a vibratorychute to -insure positive feeding of the articles to the article-transfer device.

The aforesaid objects of the invention and other objects ;which will become apparent asthe description `proceeds, are achieved by providing` an articlefeeding device having` a vibratory-delivery. chute and an articletransfer device provided with` a `stationary hollowmember The envelopes are-held in the heads by the locatedbetween the delivery chute anda revolving: head oflthe suction type, and a telescoping member slidableon the stationary member and insertable into the headto seal the.l delivery end of the "telescoping member and to providearcontinuous-path of movement for the article moving therethroughunder the influence -of the suction createdtherei-n by the Vvacuum within the head, until the article is firmly heldy in the revolving head.

For a betterunderstanding of the invention reference should be* had to the accompanying drawing wherein like numerals of reference indicate similar parts throughout the several views and fwherein:

Fig. 1 is plan viewof. the lacquer-coating machine and the associated article-feeding devices of the invention.

Fig..` 2 is an, enlarged fragmentary vertical-'sectional view, of arevolving headanda transfer deviceofthe article-feeding `device such as shown in Fig. 6 andatstation 1, an article feeding station, and showing the transfer device in the retracted position with an envelope receivedtherein from the vibratory-.delivery chute.

Fig. 3 is a vertical-sectional'view of the stationary mem-A berth`e telescoping` member, and the mounting for the` latter taken along the line IIIe-III of Fig. 2in the direction of' the arrows.

Fig.I 4"an.enlarged .fragmentary side-elevational view of the `cam means and a portion of the associated linkage for causing rnovementfof the telescoping member with respect tothe stationary member.

Fig, 5 is a side-elevational view ofthe loaded headand the transfer` device after. delivery of the article to` theA head andretraction of the telescoping member preparatory for the indexing of the head out of thearticle-feeding4 station.. and 1 showing for the sake of clarity the turret and" associated bearing in vertical section.

Fig. 6 is a .vertical-sectional view of the revolving head and article-feeding device, in the article-feeding. position at station 1, taken along the lineVI-VI of Fig. l in `,the direction of theV arrows.

Fig. 7 isan enlarged vertical-sectional view of the escapement device forming part of the article-feeding device, and taken along the` line VIL-VII of Fig. l in the direc-` tion of the arrows.

Although the principles of the invention are broadly applicable to the feeding of articles, the invention lis par-y ticularly adapted for use in conjunction with the feeding` ofphototlash-lamp envelopes to a rotating head of the.

vacuum-suction type and hence it has been so illustrated and will be so described.

With specific reference to the form of z the invention illustrated in the. drawings and referring particularly to Fig. l, a lacquer-coating machine, similar tothe type:

shown in the abovefmentioned U. S. Patent No.` 1,900,104,

is indicated generally by the reference numeral 10. Since.

the machine 10 per se forms no part of the present invention itis deemed sufficient to say that the machine 101has a `turret 12l adapted bymeans of an indexing` mechanism- 1410i the. type shown in U. S. Patent No. 2,569,852,

issued .October 2, 195.1, to l. H. Green Ito index a plurality.A

of, forexample, sixteen, enveloperreceiving heads 16 (Figs` l,,25 and 6) carried thereby through a like number of work stations .at-the rate` of two stations per` index.

a main ycam shaft 18 of the machine 10, which shaft 18 is driven in turn by a motor 20 by means of a belt 22 passing around pulleys on the main cam shaft 18 and onthe drive shaft of the `motor 20.

To connect 'each of the heads 16 to a source of vacuum 24 (Fig. l) fromstation 1 through station 14 and towconnect each of the heads to a source of compressed air Zot-at the discharge stations 1S and 16, a rotary valve` 28 ofthe type-shown in U. S. Patent No. 2,113,798, issuedApril `l2, 1938, to D. Mullan, is operatively asso- As shown inFig. l, the indexing mechanism 14 is driven by` cated with the turret 12. For the purpose of continuously rotating the heads 16, in suitable bearings 30 (Figs. 2, 5 and 6) in the turret 12, the machine 10 1s provided with a conventional mechanism (not shown) of the type shown in the above mentioned U. S. Patent No.'1,900,l04..

f At stations 1 and 2, the envelope loading stations of the machine (Fig. l), an envelope 32 (Figs. 2, 5,

6 and 7) for a photoash lamp is automaticallyfedto a head 16 thereat by an article-feeding `device of the presentV suicient to describe only the device at station 1 andv shown more in detail in the several figures.

`Article feeding device At station 1 the envelopes 32 (Fig. 6) may be fed by a vibratory feeder (not shown) but of the type shown in U. S. Patent No. 2,696,292, issued December 7, 1954, to W. V. Spurlin to the vibratory chute 36 (Figs. 1, 2, and 6) which consists of a pair of inclined guide rails mounted by means of a bracket 40 on a vibrator 41 of the type shown in U. S. Patent No. 2,472,568, issued .lune 7, 1949, to R. Burt, which vibrator 41 is secured to a support 42 upstanding from a table 43 of the machine 10. Under the influence of gravity and the longitudinal urging of the vibrator 41, the envelopes 32 in the neck-` down position are moved downwardly along the chute 36 in bowl to bowl abutting engagement (Fig. 6) until they engage a release gate 44 of the escapement mechanism 37, which gate 44 is adapted at a predetermined time in the feeding operation to swing out of the path of movement of the leading envelope 32 to permit the latter to engage an orienting lip 46 (Figs. 2 and 6) on an inclined guide extension 48 of the article-transfer device 38 and to tilt, as shown by the dotted line position in Fig. 2, from the neck-down position (Fig. 6) to the bowl-first position and to slide down the extension 48 into a stationary guide member 52 of the transfer dev'ce 38 to the solid line position shown in Fig. 2. Simultaneously with the releasing movement of the release gate 44 a restraining gate 50 of the escapement mechanism 37, moves into the path of movement of the envelopes 32 to restrain the next envelope 32 from following the leading envelope 32 onto the lip 46.

As shown in Figs. 2 and 6, the guide extension 48 is a continuation of the stationary guide member 52 of the article-transfer device 38, which member 52 is secured in a split-collar bracket 54 upstanding from the top portions of a mounting bracket 56 which in turn is secured to the table 43 of the machine 10. To provide a continuous path of movement for the envelope 32 when positioned in the stationary member 52 as shown in Fig. 2, to the head 16, a telescoping member 58, slides on the stationary'rnember 52 from its telescoped position shown in Fig. 2 to the extended position shown in Fig. 6. As a beveled lip on the telescoping member 58 engages the registering lip on the rotating head 16, the interior of the head 16, the telescoping member 58, and guide member 52 are sealed from the atmosphere and the envelope 32 under the full influence of the suction created by the vacuum within the head 16 is rapidly and positively sucked into the head 16. For the purpose of preventing rotation of the member 58 during its sliding movement, a pair of collars 60 (Figs. 2, 5 and 6) are secured to the member S8 and carry adjustably mounted rollers 62 (Fig. 3), angularly projecting from such collars 60 and radially from the longitudinal axis of the article transfer device 38, and riding on guide tracks 64 aiiixed to the top flange of the bracket 56.

To provide a drive mechanism for sliding the telescoping member 58 at station 1 (Fig. l) on the stationary guide member 52, the right-hand collar 60, as viewed in Figs. 2, 6 and 7, is connected by a link 66 to an arm 68 on a shaft 70 journalled at one end in a lateral extension 72 of the bracket 56 and at its other end in the table 43. The lower end of such shaft 70 carries an arm 74 (Fig. 6), connected by a rod 76 to a lever 78 (Fig. 4) which is biased by a spring 71 to a cam 80 on the mam shaft 18. When the cam 80 rotates l.from its dotted-line position of Fig. 4 to the solid-line position, the rod 76 is moved to the right, as viewed in Figs. l, 2 and 6, thus rotating the arms 68 and 74 and the shaft 70 clockwise about a vertical axis, as viewed in Fig. 1, thereby moving the link 66 and the telescoping member 58 to the left from the position shown in Fig. 2 and into engagement with the head 16 in the position shown in Fig. 6. As shown in Figs. 1 and 7 meshing pinion gears 82 and 84 on each of the shafts 70, shown in the upper and lower portions of Fig. l respectively, transmit the clockwise movement of the shaft 70 at station 1 into counterclockwise movement of the shaft 70 and upper arm 68 at station 2 with resultant movement of the associated link 66 and telescoping member 58 to the left, as viewed in Fig. 1.

For the purpose of causing the operation of the-gatesv 44 and 50 in time relation with the operation of thetelescoping member 58, a bell-crank lever 86 (Figs. 2 and 7) on a horizontal shaft 88 journalled in a bracket 90 upstanding from the table 43 of the machine 10, hasl its upper arm, as viewed in Fig. 6, connected by ahorizontal rod 92 to the upper arm 68 on the shaft 70l and its lower arm is connected by a vertical rod 96 to the release gate 44 pivoted on a shaft 100 rotatable in a bracket 102 upstanding from the table 43. Asshown in Fig. 7, the restraining gate 50 is secured to the release gate 44 and both gates rotate on the shaft 100 as an integrated unit.

To provide synchronized operation of both set of gates 44 and 50 at stations 1 and 2, a horizontal rod 104` joins an upper arm of the at station 1 to a similar arm of the gate 44 on a similar gate shaft at station 2 which shaft 100 is journalled also in the bracket 102.

The clockwise movement of the upper arm 68 to seat the telescoping member 58 in the head, moves the rod 92 to the left, as viewed in Fig. 6, rotating the lever 86 and the shaft 88 in counterclockwise direction, as viewed in Fig. 6, with attendant downward movement of the vertical connecting rod 96 and resultant counterclockwise rotation of the gates 44 and 50, as viewed in Fig. 7, thereby moving the restraining gate 50 out of, and the release gate 44 into, the path of movement of the envelopes 32 on the chute 36 to the solid line position shown in Fig. 7 to permit the succeeding envelope 32 formerly restrained by the gate 50 to move into engagement with the release gate 44 and permitting the line of succeeding envelopes 32 to advance one envelope down the chute 36.

After the leading envelope 32 has been seated in the head 16, as hereinbefore described, the cam 80 through the above-described linkage moves the upper arm 68 counterclockwise, as viewed in Fig. 1, and the link 66 and telescoping member 58 to the right, as viewed in Figs. 2

and 6, to permit indexing of the nowv loaded heads 16 at stations 1 and 2 (two stations at a time) to idle stations 3 and 4.

68 and yrod 92 causes the gates 44 and 50 to rotate clockwise, as viewed in Fig. 7, from the solid-line position to the dotted-line position shown therein to respectively release the now leading envelope 32 to the orienting lip 46 and to restrain the next succeeding envelope 32. Whereupon the above described feeding cycle is repeated after the next two heads 16 index into stations 1 and 2.

. At stations 3 and 4 of the rotating envelopes 32 the projecting neck portions in the heads 16 are aligned radially for the inside lacquer-coating operation by en-VL gagement thereofwith a peripheral guide 108 (Fig. l)

gate 44, as viewed in Fig. 7,l

The resultant clockwise rotation, of the lever 86', as viewed in Fig. 6, by the upper arm adjacent stations 3 through 6 preparatory to the inside lacquer-spraying of the aligned envelopes 32 at stations 5 and 6 by air brushes or lacquer-coating guns of the type employed in the above mentioned U. S. Patent No. 1,900,104.

At stations 7 through 14 the now inside-coated envelopes 32 are air dried and nally are discharged into a container (not shown) at stations and 16 by the hereinbefore described air blast fed to the heads 16 thereat from the source 26 through the valve 28.

lt will be recognized by those skilled in the art that the objects of the present invention have been achieved by the provision of an automatic device for feeding photoflash-lamp envelopes to a revolving head of the vacuumsuction type which device provides a continuous path of movement sealed at the delivery end from the atmosphere and entirely under the influence of the suctioncreated by the vacuum Within the head, thereby insuring positive high-speed transfer of the envelopes from the adjacent vibratory chute to the revolving head. Inaddition, the vibratory chtite insures positive feeding of the envelopes to the transfer device.

While in accordance with the patent statutes one best known embodiment has been illustrated and described in detail, it is particularly to be understood that the invention is not limited thereto or thereby.

We claim:

1. Apparatus for feeding articles into a head of the vacuum-suction type and movable into an article-receiving position, comprising a stationary member disposed adjacent the article-receiving position of said head and adapted to receive an article in a predetermined position, a telescoping member normally in telescope axial engagement With said stationary member, means connected to said telescoping member for moving the latter-.from its telescoped position to an extended axial position and into atmospheric-sealing engagem-ent with said head when in its article-receiving position to permit the sealed suction created by the vacuum within said head to rapidly and positively draw said article through said stationary member and `said axially extended telescoping member and seat said article in said head.

2. Apparatus for feeding articles into a head of the vacuum-suction type and movable into an article-receiving position, comprising a stationary member disposed adjacent the article-receiving position of said head and adapted to receive an article in a predetermined position, a telescoping member normally in telescoped axial engagement with said stationary member, and operating means connected to said telescoping member for moving the latter from its telescoped position to an extended axial position and into atmospheric-sealing engagement with said head to permit the sealed suction created by the vacuum with said head to rapidly and positively draw said article through said stationary member and said axially extended telescoping member and seat said article in said head, and said operating means being further operable to retract said telescoping member into its normally telescoped engagement with said stationary member to permit the movement of the article-loaded head out of its article-receiving position.

3. Apparatus for feeding envelopes for photoflash lamps into a revolving head of the vacuum-suction type, said head being movable into an envelope-receiving position, comprising a stationary tube disposed adjacent the envelope-receiving position of said head and adapted to receive an envelope in a predetermined position, a telescoping tube normally in telescoped axial engagement with said stationary tube, means connected to said telescoping tube for moving the latter from its telescoped position to an extended axial position and into atmospheric-sealing engagement With said head when in its envelope-receiving position to permit the sealed suction created by the vacuum Within said head to rapidly and positively draw said envelope through said stationary tube and said axially extended telescoping tube and seat said envelope in said head.

4. Apparatus for feeding envelopes for photoash lamps into a revolving head of the vacuum-suction type, said head being movable into an envelope-receiving position, comprising a stationary tube disposed adjacent the envelope-receiving position of said head and adapted to receive an envelope in a predetermined position, a telescoping tube normally in telescoped axial engagement with said stationary tube, and operating means connected to said telescoping tube for moving the latter from its telescoped position to an extended axial position and into atmospheric-sealing engagement with said head to permit the sealed suction created by the vacuum within said head to rapidly and positively draw said envelope through said stationary tube and said axially extended telescoping tube and seat said envelope in said head, and said operating means being further operable to retract said telescoping tube into its normally telescoped engagement with said stationary tube to permit the movement of the envelope-loaded head out of its envelope-receiving position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,427,712 Casler et al. Sept. 23, 1947 

